Mechanical Signalling in Shrewsbury
Salop’s Boxes
© Geoff’s Rail Diaries 2015
Geoff’s Rail Diaries
17 October 2015
We’ve visited them before - getting on for thirty years
ago, when mechanical boxes were much more common.
Today, Shrewsbury’s Severn Bridge Junction is the
biggest mechanical signalbox in the world.
This was an official visit organised by the Shropshire
Railway Society, the second one in recent months (several
members were away, including yours truly, for the first
one). We gathered on platform 3, donned orange jackets,
and split into three groups, each to be escorted to Abbey
Foregate “AF”, Severn Bridge Junction “SBJ” and Crewe Junction
“CJ” (the others did them in a different order...)
Abbey Foregate is the smallest of the three, with a GWR frame
for 93 levers (many are now painted white - they’re “spare”),
controlling trains between SBJ (six running lines) and the double
track Wolverhampton line.
Severn Bridge Junction stands in the triangle formed by
the Hereford line, the Wolverhampton line and the Abbey
Foregate loop. The latter enables trains running between
those lines to avoid the station - still used by freight, it
was once used by direct passenger trains between the
west midlands and the Welsh coast. The LNWR frame here
caters for no fewer than 180 levers (again, there are now
quite a few spares) - and the view of the station is first-
rate.
Crewe Junction is appropriately named - at the north end of the
station. It’s another LNWR frame, this time with 120 levers,
controlling traffic between the Chester and Crewe lines and the
station.
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye. What a great way to
spend a Saturday morning! Many many thanks to Network Rail,
our first-rate guides and the signallers who made us most
welcome in their wonderful domains!
Crewe Junction
Severn Bridge Junction
Abbey Foregate
